Financial Crisis Meeting on Capitol Hill

Just like the Democrats, they make it go to extremes and wait until things get to the breaking point, before they do anything.
So you know they had their hands in the cause of it all.

go home people …. it is just a mental recession. stop yer whining.
the economy is fundamentally sound

Republicans are nothing but a bunch of incompetent greedy jackasses who LOVE to SPEND and BORROW.
They shoot people like this in China.

Earlier this week, Obama made an early attempt to attack Governor Sarah Palin on the earmark issue. He claimed that Palin is responsible for taking many earmarked funds for her state as she sat in the Governor’s office in Juneau and that her attack on him for earmarks is, therefore, illegitimate.
“I know the governor of Alaska has been, you know, saying she is change and that is great. She is a skillful politician. But when you been taking all these earmarks when it is convenient and then suddenly you are the champion anti-earmark person. That is not change, come on. I mean, words mean something. You can’t just make stuff up. You can’t just make stuff up. We have a choice to make and the choice is clear.”
But, this return fire on Palin’s ridiculing of Obama for his many earmarks is not very effective. While Obama is pointing fingers at Palin, news came out this week that Senator Obama had unsuccessfully tried several times to get multi-million dollar earmarks for one of his biggest Chicago contributors. So, his attack on Palin seems more like smokescreen than cruise missile.
Obama twice attempted to direct more than $3 million dollars in taxpayer funds to the Adler Planetarium Museum in Chicago. It just so happens that the Adler’s chairman is one of Barack’s biggest Chicago fundraisers.
The planetarium’s chairman, then and still, is Frank Clark, chief executive of ComEd, a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Energy. He has pledged to raise more than $200,000 for Mr. Obama’s run for the White House.
Even more cozy, this earmark would have benefited a Joe Biden supporter.
Moreover, the Adler Planetarium is represented by the lobbying firm National Group LLP, co-founded by William Oldaker, who helped launch Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr.’s political action committee in 2005. Mr. Oldaker, a partner with the Delaware Democrat’s son in another Washington lobbying and law firm, is no longer involved with Mr. Biden’s PAC, Unite Our States.
On the other hand, it must be pointed out that taking earmarked funds that someone else arranged for is a little different than actually being the one creating the diversion of funds. Obama criticizes Palin for taking funds that Congress offered her, but Obama is responsible for being one doing the offering.
Palin’s record on reform is clear, of course. But, Obama’s record on over spending is also clear. His finger pointing is hollow rhetoric.

McCAIN CAMPAIGN ATTEMPTS TO COVER UP PALIN’S TROOPERGATE SCANDAL!!!
Didn’t Palin learn the lessons of Watergate? The break-in to Democtatic Party headquarters by the NIXON Campaign to look at a few papers was really nothing…
It was the ensuing COVER-UP that killed Nixon! Since Palin is clearly a student and understudy of Nixon, she and McCain should both know that…
Everyone in America knows a cover-up when they see one now! The only thing that is “tainted” about that bi-partisan investigation is PALIN!!!
Something smells fishy (or Moosey) here………..
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!!!!!!!!!!!
Republicans are cheats, LIARS and crooks!! Always have been, always will be!! The last honest Republican was Abraham Lincoln…

Let’s face it,
Bush is the Jimmy Carter of this century!

This election is probably over anyhow. Obama WILL win because of the VOTER FRAUD in several states, especially the “swing states, like mine, WISCONSIN, that is unwilling to check fraudulent voter lists from groups like ACORN, because of the Democratic Governor crook we have here. In the last couple of Presidential elections, the Democrat won by less than 5000 votes.
Investigations like those done by the Milwaukee Police Dept. have shown rampant voter fraud, and that goes along with studies in other parts of the state. Right now our state attorney general is suing the state group that oversees elections to try and get them to do their job mandated by the FED election laws, which they are refusing to do. (The group is appointed so guess which party appointed them.) The DEMS have fought EVERY attempt to check voter ID. It’s a disgusting story that should be investigated by the media, but won’t be because they’re in the tank for the Democrats. Investigating voter fraud???..CBS..no way…ABC…no way..NBC..LOL…you’ve GOT to be kidding…hmm…maybe FOX

Palin said no to bridge to nowhere after shw was for it.
SHE KEPT THE MONEY TO BUILD THE ROAD TO NOWHERE CONNECTING THE BRIDGE SHE SUPPOSEDLY KILLED. The road is almost complete with our money.
Also her Wasila sports complex left her hometown in the red big time.
This is what happens with 1 hour vetting & not taking real questions.
these questions cannot be answered by attacking Obama anymore.

bhrandon – i’m sure you know what a filibuster is, how many times did the liberal’s through THEIR leader’s in power take that position, not all democrats agreed to filibuster! how many year’s have they been doing that!
pay back is hell, especially when the American people have to suffer through this. so, raising taxes is off the table period! average people need to keep as much of their money as possible to eat and pay bill’s! whether you like it or not, people who run their own business, whether small or big, need to keep as much money as they can to keep the company going and not lay people off! it’s not about republican or democrat right now, it’s about commonsense, and raising taxes for more goverment program’s is not what we need right now! whether you like it or not, obama’s stimulus package proposal will not do anything right now, his move is just a political move once again. because how would that work if he wins and turns around and raises taxes, that’s just plain stupid, it’s a waste of money because the taxpayers still flip the bill on filing, printing, etc… donald trump is now endorsing McCain because McCain will not raise taxes, especially right now! donald, as we all know is a very smart and well to do investor with inside conection’s to many market’s. now, if he say’s obama would be disasterous to our economy, you better listen. by the way, donald was endorsing hillary until now! as we all know, he’s a man not a woman, who is now endorsing McCain, what does that tell you! now, i can very easily sit here typing number’s and big sophisticated words but that does not fix anything, let alone show how intellegent someone is! even though yes, i’m voting for McCain, we all need to stop throwing out each other’s side’s talking point’s period! although i do blame both side’s for this mess(financial institutions too)the real democrats really do need to take down their liberal leader’s and replace them with true blue democrat’s who care more about their country and party rather than their own self-interest!

I am asking everyone to email a note to Senator Boxer who is the head of the Senate Ethics Committee to ask him to investigate Sen Obama breaking the Logan Act in his attempt to get Iraq to not withdrawl troops until he took office. This is a well known story with Iraqi saying he requested it. Here is the note I sent. you can put your name in place of mine at the bottom. Please make sure you include your name and state and county at the bottom. You can exclude pumapac if you desire. Please do a bcc or blind copy if you can to prowl@pumapac.org
The more people who do this the better chance we have of getting some action on this terrible act of treason and selfishness allowing people to maybe die in a war so he could be elected. Everyone is invited to come to blog.pumapac.org a place where the common person is trying to have his voice hear. A super friendly place. please pass this around to other blog sites that might attract people to join in this effort.
Senator@boxer.senate.gov
SUBJECT: Obama in violation of Logan Act!
9/19/08
PumaPac.org
Contact: Murphy@pumapac.org
Dear Member of the Senate Ethics Committee,
I am writing to request that you open an investigation into the actions of Senator Barack Obama with regard to his July visit to Iraq. News reports, as well as the statements from Senator Obama’s own campaign, confirm that Senator Obama attempted to negotiate a plan for troop withdrawals and a framework for the American presence in Iraq in such a way as to benefit him politically. This is clearly an unethical way for a member of the United States Senate to act, using his status and leverage as a Senator and prominent candidate to undermine the Administration and to benefit his own political career. It also appears to be a direct violation of the Logan Act.
From the Logan Act:
“Any citizen of the United States, wherever he may be, who, without authority of the United States, directly or indirectly commences or carries on any correspondence or intercourse with any foreign government or any officer or agent thereof, with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government or of any officer or agent thereof, in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than three years, or both.”
I am a member of Puma PAC, People United Means Action (http://pumapac.org). We are the Voice of the Voters in the Democratic Party and we strongly oppose Senator Obama’s selection as our Party’s nominee. We believe he is an unethical politician, disloyal to the fundamental values of our democracy.
Thank you for your consideration and time.
Sincerely,
first initial and last name and county state
Puma PAC Democrat

I think a more accurate question would be “who benefits from regulation?” REGULATION HAS A TRACK RECORD OF BENEFITTING EVERYONE EXCEPT THE MIDDLE CLASS TAXPAYER. Anyone, textbook liberal or textbook conservative should note that regulation (aka government interference with free markets) is what got us into this mess in the first place. You may remember two far off events like the dot com bubble and 9/11 which wreaked havoc on our stock market, consumer confidence, and liquidity in the banking system. Prior to these two events, we enjoyed a steady five or so year run of steady, if unremarkable growth in home values, low inflation, and manageable interest rates.
Wall Street and the Investment Banks (the same folks we just bailed out again) created the irrational exuberance of the dot com market, financed it, repackaged it, and sold shares of worthless companies to optimistic, trusting, and maybe a little greedy middle class folks like you and I. They profited not so much from the value or products of these companies, but rather from the marketing of worthless products (Think Snake Oil meets Wall Street). This was capitalism at its finest. Most of us would have appreciated a little regulation prior to taking 50% losses in our 401ks, but we did not get it. This too was a free market at work. When the dot com thing blew up and our elected officials thought it might look bad for their re-election attempts, the regulators stepped in and slapped the hands of a few really bad guys to save face AND then proceeded to push Greenspan and our monetary policy folks to open the money spigot to get big business, banks, and the investment houses making money again. This, again, was regulation.
Part 2
9/11 takes place just as this injection of capital and cheaper money/money policy is starting to lube up the economy. This catastrophe basically shuts down trading worldwide, kills confidence, and paralyzes markets. Again, we get some “regulation/government interference” by way of reducing short term rates for businesses, homeowners, and builders down to 4% interest. This was just to get things back on track and moving.
The financial cocktail of mega cheap money, loose lending requirement for that cheap money, folks avoiding stocks, and elected official’s desire to do anything to keep the economy growing (even if it is not good for the long-term) created a real estate and housing boom that never should have happened.
Wall Street and Main Street enjoyed some really cool years where everyone felt rich in their home and their portfolio so who could really complain? We should have complained. We new better.
Government regulation/interference included:
1. Politicians pushing for higher percentages of home ownership (everyone votes for that)
2. Politicians pushing for lower lending standards for certain regions/demographics (even if you don’t like it, you can’t publicly complain)
3. Keeping rates way too low for way too long
4. Loosening liquidity requirements for big banks
5. Fannie and Freddie being a partner, investor, and underwriter to this madness
6. Allowing/endorsing ratings agencies to stuff junk loans into AAA portfolios
In the meantime, our friends in Wall Street created a new product to replace dot com IPOs…sub-prime and Alt A mortgages. They figured out that they could make a lot of money buying mortgages from lenders and brokers on main street, packaging them together, and then re-selling them in infinite ways to investors, other banks, bond houses, etc. After a year or two, they were all making so much money at this that they decided they should figure out a way to get more mortgages to package and sell. They came up with wild adjustables, reverse amortization, pay option arms, and every conceivable $0 down, bad credit, no job, no bank acccount, foreign citizen, maybe I don’t even exist mortgage product ever imagined. These products were designed to create more mortgages for Wall Street to package and sell. The fact that they happened to stimulate the housing market and create a sense of wealth in all of us was just a nice by-product for our dearly elected.
Now, a few years later, the government regulators act shocked that this was happening. But rather than punish Wall Street, the Big Banks, and the government itself, it seems that our entire country screams that someone must help these poor big banks as they are the backbone of capitalism and the American way. Who better to help than the regulators?
The point is simple logic. If the government wouldn’t have stepped in and tried to fix things in 2000-2001, we wouldn’t be in nearly the mess we’re in now that they need to come in and clean up. The fact that we taxpayers making $50-$100k on average will be bailing out corporate titans who make millions per year is just icing on the cake.
I may need someone to regulate my anger.

The communists are coming, the communists are coming. They are here and they are Comrade Bush and Comrade Cheney. Comrade Paulson and Comrade Bernanke are even with them.